Space Harrier

For home computer conversions, see Space Harrier (Elite Systems) abd Space Harrier (Dempa).

For 3D home console conversions, see Space Harrier 3D (Master System) and 3D Space Harrier (3DS).

Space Harrier

Publisher:

Sega,

Takara,

NEC

Developer: Sega AM2, Sega White Board

System(s): Sega Hang-On hardware, Sega 32X, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Nintendo Famicom, TurboGrafx-16, Virtual Console

ROM Size: 1.75MB,^[1] 256kB, 128kB, 2MB

Genre: Shoot-'em-Up, Third-Person Shooter, Rail Shooter

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1985-12^[2]	¥?	?
World	1985		?
JP	1986-12-21	¥5,500	G-1310
US	1988	$?	?
EU	1987-08	£24.95 ^[3]Media:ACE UK 16.pdf	7080
KR	19xx	₩?	GB-2310
TW	19xx	NT$?	G-1310
JP	1991-12-28	¥3,500	G-3212
US	1991	$?	2314
EU	1991	£24.99	2314
BR	199x	$?	013510
JP	1994-12-03	¥4,980	GM-4005
US	1994	$?	84505
EU	1994	£?	84505-50
AS	199x	$?	84505
JP	1989	¥?	?
JP	1988-12-09	¥?	?
US	1990	$?	TGX040025

JP	2008-07-23	500 points	?
US	2008-11-03	500 points	?
EU	2008-10-17	500 points	?
JP (Arcade)	2009-03-26	800 points	?
US (Arcade)	2009-06-15	800 points	?
EU (Arcade)	2009-05-29	800 points	?

ESRB

SEGA

PEGI

OFLC

CERO

Space Harrier (スペースハリアー) is a rail shoot 'em up game developed by Yu Suzuki and Sega AM2 which makes use of Super Scaler technology. It is one of many A-list arcade games developed by Sega during the 1980s, placing Sega firmly on the map and inspiring numerous sequels, starting with Space Harrier 3D.

Space Harrier and its sequels are set in the "Fantasy Zone", the same setting as the arcade game with the same name. This relationship was explored further with the Sharp X68000 port of Fantasy Zone, which includes a Space Harrier level, and the cancelled TurboGrafx-16 title Space Fantasy Zone, which was a hybrid between the two games.

The game spawned the sequels Space Harrier II (1988) and Planet Harriers (2000).

Overview

Using Sega's "Super Scaler" 16-bit graphics technology, the game produced pseudo-3D sprite-scaling at high frame rates,^[4] with the ability to scale as many as 32,000 sprites and fill a moving landscape with them,^{[Bernard Perron & Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), Video game theory reader two, p. 157, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-96282-X]} along with 6144 colors^[5] on screen out of a 98,304 color palette.^{[Sega's 16-bit arcade color palette: 15-bit RGB high color depth (32,768 colors) and 1-bit shadow & highlight that triples up to 98,304 colors. [6] [7] [8]]} It also introduced a true analog flight stick for movement, with the ability to register movement in any direction as well as measure the degree of push, which could move the player character at different speeds depending on how far the stick is pushed in a certain direction.^[9] It also featured a hydraulic cockpit arcade cabinet,^[10] which moved in the direction the player moved the joystick.^[11] The game was also an early example of a third-person shooter;^[12] it was influenced by the earlier 1982 Sega game Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, and Space Harrier in turn influenced later 3D shooters such as Nintendo's Star Fox (Starwing) in 1993. [13]

Running on the Sega Space Harrier arcade system board previously used by Hang-On, the pseudo-3D sprite/tile scaling in the game was handled in a similar manner to textures in later texture-mapped polygonal 3D games of the 1990s.^[14] Designed by Sega AM2's Yu Suzuki, he stated that his "designs were always 3D from the beginning. All the calculations in the system were 3D, even from Hang-On. I calculated the position, scale, and zoom rate in 3D and converted it backwards to 2D. So I was always thinking in 3D." [15] The game's success established Suzuki as the leading arcade game designer at the time.^[16]

Gameplay

In Space Harrier the player controls "the Harrier", a blond-haired man with a jetpack who travels across the Fantasy Zone shooting at enemies and objects. It is a third-person "on the rails" shooter, in which the Harrier is constantly travelling into the screen - the player can move horizontally and vertically, but has no control over the speed travelling forwards. Similar to Fantasy Zone, the Harrier can traverse either on-foot or in the air without issues. The object of the game is simply to survive, the chances of which are increased by shooting down enemies and avoiding obstacles.

Space Harrier contains 18 levels, each with a boss at the end. The 5th and 12th levels, however, are bonus stages with no threats, in which the player rides a friendly dragon known as "Uriah" with the objective of destroying as much scenery as possible. The 18th level, similar again to Fantasy Zone, is a boss rush, where the Harrier needs to defeat all the bosses he has encountered so far for a second time. The game relies solely on a joystick and fire button - arcade versions have the joystick self-center if not in use, though many home conversions lack this.

The game is also notable for its use of digitized speech and its sit-down arcade cabinets affected by the movement of the joystick, both of which were still quite rare things to see in 1985.

History

Commercial Performance

It became one of 1986's major chart hits in the arcades.^[17]

Legacy

Space Harrier's arcade success led it to become one of the most ported Sega games in history. Sega themselves would handle Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear ports in 1986 and 1991, respectively, the Master System game in particular being a top seller for the console and one of the more accurate, readily available versions of its day.

NEC brought Space Harrier to the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 with Takara also bringing it to the Nintendo Famicom in 1989. Squaresoft's NES game The 3D Battles of WorldRunner is often considered to have been heavily inspired by Space Harrier also.

With the release of Space Harrier for the Sega 32X (originally known as Super Space Harrier during development) in 1994, the full arcade experience was finally available in the home. This was followed by the Sega Saturn release of Sega Ages Vol. 2 Space Harrier in 1996, and as part of multiple compilations since, including the Game Boy Advance's Sega Arcade Gallery, the PlayStation 2's Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 20: Space Harrier Complete Collection and the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360's Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. A remake and port was also released in Japan under the Sega Ages 2500 as Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 4: Space Harrier, which came to the west as part of Sega Classics Collection.

The game was included as a minigame in both Shenmue and Shenmue II, and more recently the Master System version of the game was made available via the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2008, followed by a Virtual Console Arcade release a year later. It has also appeared on the Nintendo 3DS as 3D Space Harrier.

Critical Reception

Arcade Version

The arcade game was well received upon release. Computer and Video Games magazine reviewed the arcade game in its March 1986 issue, after reviewer Clare Edgeley played it at the 1986 ATEI show, along with the arcade version of Super Mario Bros. She stated, "Perhaps the games to steal the show were" Space Harrier along with Shrike Avenger (1986), praising their hydraulic cockpit cabinets that "twist, turn and move" in the same direction as the joystick, making them "the most realistic" simulators "to date". She praised Space Harrier's "excellent graphics" for being "all in 3D with amazing technicolour landscapes" and a "multitude of objects" on screen, as well as "the sounds of the battle" output by "large speakers" where "you could almost lose touch with reality". She also praised the gameplay for being "exciting" and "very fast" paced, as well as the continue feature, but stated the game can be "very difficult."^[18]

Clare Edgeley gave the arcade game a retrospective review in the February 1987 issue of Sinclair User, where she noted it had one of the first hydraulic arcade cabinets she had seen, along with 1986's Shrike Avenger. She stated that Space Harrier's "fabulously colourful 3D graphics" and "the movement of the sit-in cabinet were, and still are, breathtaking", noting "the seat-belt" and "turbulent" ride which "hurls you up, down, left and right" and tilts "the cabinet in a roll in whatever direction you push your joystick", concluding the game to be "great fun."^[19]

Home Conversions

See Physical Scans section for review scores of home console versions

See Space Harrier (Elite Systems) article for review scores of home computer versions

See Space Harrier 3D and 3D Space Harrier articles for review scores of 3D console versions

The home conversions were also well received. The game was runner-up in the category of Game of the Year at the 1986 Golden Joystick Awards.^[20]

The Milwaukee Journal in May 1987 gave the Sega Master System version a positive review, rating it a score of 9 out of 10. The reviewer Edward J. Semrad described the Master System version of Space Harrier as "the latest innovation" and "the most powerful cartridge ever made for any computer or game system." He concluded it "sets new standards in audio, graphic detail, memory and price ($40 list)." [21]

Computer Gaming World in 1988 called Space Harrier "the best arcade shoot-'em-up of the year ... as exciting a game as this reviewer has ever played".^{["Video Gaming World", Computer Gaming World, September 1988, page 50]}

Production Credits

32X Version

Reprogrammed By: Rutubo Games
Programmer and Planner: M.Hashimoto (Rutubo Games), S.Mukaigashira (Rutubo Games), K.Tsuneyoshi (Rutubo Games), T.Matsushima (Rutubo Games), M.Mishima (Rutubo Games)
Thanks: Y.Kenji (Rutubo Games), T.Maeda (Rutubo Games)
Special Thanks: M.Shigeta, H.Aso, O.Sato, Y.Ohoka, S.Yonekura, H.Lee, K.Hayashida
Presented by: Sega Enterprises Ltd.

Master System Version

PC Unit

Directed by: Berial Mut 743
Produced by: Nitta Tai Yuji
Screenplay by: Nitta Tai Yuji, Berial Mut 743, Tamo, Koshihikari
Story by: Berial Mut 743
Editor: Tamo, Koshihikari
Art Director: Fuuuuuk
Art Designer: Mayu, Col Khadafy, Matilda Yoko, Sukeban Tamun, 3712 SK
Music Arranger: Bo
Proposed by: Nitta Tai Yuji
Special Thanks: Arcade Unit, Yu, Cota, Hiro, Bin Chan, Chisuke, Eiro, Pideshi, Kan, Shy Guy Aso, Sant
Present from: Sega

PC Engine Version

Main Programmer: T.Kurebayashi
Music Driver: Perfect Senoko
Music Editor: Nazo1 Ken Ken
Sound Effector: ROM Writer Nasu
Graphic Coding: T.Matsushima, T.Kurebayashi
Test Player: K.Tsuchida, A.Yamashita
Special Thanks to: Daddy Naniwa, T.Tabeta

- Space Harrier -

PC Engine

Programmed by Dempa Micom Soft

Gallery

Rolling Cabinet
Sit-Down Cabinet
Upright Cabinet

Artwork

Hints

SMS Us Hints (B\W Scan)

Promotional Material

Arcade JP flyer
Arcade EU flyer
Master System JP TV advert
32X ES print advert